The present invention relates in general to storage compartments in motor vehicles, and, more specifically, to an expandable compartment on a door panel.
Typical automobiles and other transportation vehicles include a variety of storage features such as a compartment located along the bottom interior surface of a vehicle side entry door. This compartment is commonly referred to as a map pocket. This pocket is usually molded from hard plastic as an outward extension from the door panel. The conventional pocket creates a dedicated space/volume for storage intruding into the passenger area regardless of whether anything is actually stored there. Furthermore, the opening is usually not covered which detracts from the overall appearance and may allow items to fall out of the map pocket while driving on bumpy surfaces, for example. Thus, a closable and retractable map pocket would be desirable.